According to analysts, the release of Google Drive this week is just as likely to be a boon as it might be a headache for the IT managers looking for a new productivity tool. Google unveiled the Google Drive on Tuesday, which is all set to offer the regular user 5 GB of free storage space, though you could have as much as 1TB for monthly fees of $50. However, most IT managers are currently concerned as to whether this new feature will work in tandem with existing services already employed by companies including office applications like Google Docs.
An analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, Patrick Moorhead said that corporate users could have some quit benefits from the new storage service. He said that Google Drive will enable users to access all their files on the move, which will enable seamless data syncing between phones, tablets and personal computers via the cloud, a feature which is currently missing for PCs since Google Docs on Android was already automatically synced. He added that Google Docs will continue to exist; only that it can now be accessed through Google Drive.
The Senior Vice President overseeing Google Docs, Sundar Pichai was quoted as saying yesterday that the new service will be perfectly integrated with other Google services including office applications which allow customers to edit presentations, spreadsheets and documents in real time along with multiple collaborators.
An expert at Enderle Group, Rob Enderle along with Moorhead said that security and privacy would be the two major concerns for all major IT operations that decide to use the virtual storage service. Both of them however added that Google doesn’t have a very good reputation with regard to privacy and it might be a hindrance to the company. Both Microsoft and Apple so far have had a better reputation with regard to privacy and until Google bridges the gap, the new feature might be mostly limited to a few Chrome OS users or Android users.
Enderle also noted that it is likely that many IT employees might end up having some corporate information on the cloud servers without prior authorization and such storage of information over an external could service typically would be a breach of corporate rules.
